Storm update: delays on Orange Line, Blue Line and Expo Line this morning due to weather issues

•ORANGE LINE: There are some 20-minute delays along the Orange Line due a downed tree near Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Buses detouring via Burbank Boulevard between Whitsett and Laurel Canyon. Tree crews are on the scene. Please expect delays to last through the morning rush hour.

•EASTSIDE GOLD LINE: Up to 10-minute delays between Union Station and Atlantic due to signal issues.

•BLUE LINE: Due to an earlier disabled train at San Pedro, there are some residual delays along the line.

•EXPO LINE: There have been up to 10 minute delays on Expo Line trains rdue to an earlier disabled train at Culver City station.

According to some stats I’ve been compiling, the vast majority of riders on Metro tap in on their last leg of journey within 90 minutes. Under the fare proposal, you don’t have to be at final destination within 90 minutes, just have to tap in.

However, consider that the initial TAP in at the turnstiles or validators HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO RELATION to when the train actually pulls into the station to get you moving toward your transfer point.

1. I TAP in at the turnstiles at 7th/Metro. The TAP-in data point is when the clock starts ticking down to the 90 minute limit. But the train doesn’t spontaneously appear as soon as I TAP at the turnstile. I still have to wait for the train to arrive.

2. Depending on your Metro Blue Line schedule at whatever time of day, I can be waiting as much as 30 minutes on the platform until the train comes. Thirty minutes is spent not moving anywhere, I’m still at 7th/Metro.

3. The train comes. Only then do I finally start moving to get to my transfer point. I now have 60 minutes to make it to my transfer point. Remember, the clock starts ticking down for the 90 minute limit when I TAPed at the turnstile and I just spend 30 minutes waiting for the train to arrive at the platform.

4. With delays, it can take up to 1 hour to go from 7th/Metro to the Green Line transfer station at Willowbrook.

5. By the time I get to Willowbrook, chances are high that my 90 minutes are up and I have to pay another $2.25 for the short trip on the Green Line.

Correct. That said, if the trains are running on schedule, the wait time is less than 30 minutes — actually 20 minute or less — during most of the day and night. And it’s not $2.25 yet. At this point, it would be $1.75. I do understand your concern however about delays and such. Obviously they happen. We’ll see if the Board discusses 90 minutes versus the two hours that some readers have proposed for free transfer time.

To Sonny: I’ve never been to Los Angeles, but I do know that SoCal doesn’t get a lot of rain to begin with. So when Mother Nature decides to “make it rain”, it pretty much affects all aspects of life in Southern California. Although it varies from city to city, as well as from transit agency to transit agency, based on my Northeast travels (SEPTA’s trolleys; Boston’s trolleys; Baltimore’s light rail; and NJ Transit’s Newark Light Rail, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail & River Line), light rail/trolley operators have to slow down in street traffic just like motorists have to. Similarly, passengers have to pace themselves and not run for trains.

Riders won’t have to worry about “will I get there in time” and Metro wouldn’t have to worry about delays and irritated customers if Metro would just ditch the entire time limit fare hike plan altogether and move to a distance based system and replace the passes with a cap system.

You fill up your TAP card with an arbitrary amount just like you fill up the gas of your car. Ten bucks, $20, $50, doesn’t matter, your choice. Do it online with a debit or credit card so it automatically reloads when it reaches to a certain minimum level that you choose.

You take the Blue Line from 7th/Metro to Pico. TAP in at 7th/Metro, TAP out at Pico, deducts $0.50 from your TAP card because it’s a short ride.

You take the Blue Line from 7th/Metro to Willowbrook, transfer to the Green Line and get off at Avalon. TAP in at 7th/Metro, TAP out at Avalon, deducts $1.50 from your TAP card. No additional TAP needed at Willowbrook because all that matters is where you got on and where you got off.

You take the Blue Line from 7th/Metro terminus to Long Beach terminus. TAP in at 7th/Metro, TAP out at Long Beach, deducts $3.00 from your TAP card because you used the Blue Line for the longest ride possible. You pay your fair share by distance traveled.

You reach the daily limit, it caps off at the daily pass rate.
You reach the weekly limit, it caps off at the weekly pass rate.
You reach the monthly limit, it caps off at the monthly pass rate.

Simple! Don’t tell me this can’t be done. Metro uses the Cubic system and these are the things that are possible and are currently being used by other systems around the world that rely on the same exact Cubic system. This can be done with gates (BART), without gates (Caltrain), and on buses (Singapore SMRT).